979 – Abu Musa al-Ashʿari (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “We were travelling with the Prophet ﷺ. Whenever we came to the edge of a valley we would proclaim the tahlil and the takbir, and our voices would rise. The Prophet ﷺ thereupon said, ‘People, be gentle with yourselves (arbiʿū, with a fathah on the bāʾ, meaning: take it easy), for you are not calling upon One who is deaf or absent. He is with you; He is All-Hearing, Ever-Near.’” Agreed upon.

[Explanation]
We have already noted that a traveller should pronounce the takbir when ascending and the tasbih when descending, and we explained the wisdom behind it. Yet when doing so one must neither strain himself nor burden others by raising the voice excessively. This is made clear in the report of Abu Musa al-Ashʿari—may Allah be pleased with him—in which they were with the Prophet ﷺ on a journey, uttering the tahlil and the takbir and lifting their voices. The Prophet ﷺ said, “People, be gentle with yourselves,” that is, lighten the matter and do not trouble yourselves by shouting, “for you are not calling upon One who is deaf or absent; rather, you are calling upon One who hears, answers and is near—Allah, exalted be He. You have no need to exhaust yourselves by raising your voices when saying subhan Allah, al-hamdu lillah and Allahu Akbar, because Allah